World: Switched at Birth in France

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: babies being switched at birth. For two families in France, that nightmare came true in 1994 when Sophie Serrano gave birth to a baby girl and a nurse’s assistant accidentally handed that baby to the wrong mother, and the baby girl in the adjacent incubator was given to Serrano. Three years later, Sophie’s daughter had curly hair and olive skin, unlike Sophie or her partner. After her partner left her amidst rumors of infidelity, Sophie commissioned a DNA test and found that the daughter did not belong to either her or her former partner. An investigation was launched immediately and their biological child was found only 9 miles away. “It’s a relief. We have waited for this for so long,” said Sophie. A French court has ordered a private clinic in Cannes to pay $450,000 each to two 20-year-old girls accidentally switched at birth — part of a $2.1 million settlement with both their families